River House

The River House was presented to MZA as a multi-functional concept. The clients wanted a place for their large, extended family to stay together during holidays instead of renting multiple hotel rooms and impersonal event spaces for family meals. As owners of a successful Nashville-based business, they sought guest rooms for visiting clients to stay while in town and a large space to feed and entertain them. That large space also would serve as a place for internal company meetings and events. And perhaps most importantly, the family desired a space of their own where they could spend time, boat, and fish the Cumberland River.

It immediately became clear that building in the 100-year flood plain (the 9 acre site was fully under water in the 2010 Nashville flood) would require a creative solution to both access the house and take advantage of the views of the river – the decision to elevate the first floor 11 feet above the flood plain (instead of the 4 feet minimum required) created opportunities to use the space beneath for a garage and a “hammock zone” full of suspended seats which leads to the fire pit, and extends further down to the dock. Accessing the raised first floor meant creation of a monumental precast concrete and steel stair at the front, complete with a custom steel and teak slide for a speedier, more fun way to get back down to the ground level.    

The project’s programmatic diagram was a “family wing” to the south, a large central space, and a “guest wing” to the north. This would allow the family to “turn off” over half of the house when it was only them using it to conserve energy. The wings angled inward slightly to “hug” the outdoor deck and pool for additional privacy. The guest wing was designed modularly and included 14 guest rooms with balconies, all similar except for the twelve-person bunk room. A game room element was proposed initially by the owners as a place for adults and kids to escape to, and MZA obliged, placing the skewed, rectangular solid with glass ends above the primary entry, accessed by a floating maple stair. Within the game room is a golf simulator and a portion of the flooring was finished as a putting green, complete with cups left out of the post-tension slab. One end of the game room faces out to the new golf chipping area adjacent to the house’s approach, while the other end faces the river and 1800 SF pool below.

The 24-foot-tall great room covers nearly 3000 SF of space and includes multiple, varied seating areas. A custom masonry fireplace anchors one end, with a board formed “pill”-shaped element, containing multiple restrooms and a coat room, at the other. The walls facing the river and expansive Kebony deck mechanically open to allow a seamless interior-exterior experience. The ceiling in the great room is acoustic plaster, “slotted” at the beam locations to allow structure, lighting, HVAC, sprinkler and audio to disappear instead of having all devices dot the ceiling surface. The aisle on the Great Room’s east side includes built-in seating, custom bookshelves, and two cantilevered, glass, bay windows facing the front lawn.

The project has two primary roofs – one for each wing – and separate roofs at the game room and master suite. The nearly 10,000 SF of roof is partially covered in photovoltaic panels which offset the house’s typical electrical usage. The facades are finished in two types of shou sugi ban – a wider horizontal board with a heavier char finish, and a narrow vertical board which was left more natural in color. In addition, standing seam metal siding is used to clad the garage and commercial kitchen, as well as the game room, referencing the industry in the area and serving as a crisp foil to the wood siding’s irregularity. Regionally sourced Indiana limestone pavers were also used throughout project as a patio finish and at car park areas.

all photos: Caroline Allison